The present invention relates to a park lock arrangement for use in a continuously variable transmission.
A publication entitled "NISSAN TECHNICAL HANDBOOK, MARCH K11-1, January, 1992" discloses a park lock arrangement for use in a continuously variable transmission. This known arrangement includes a housing, an end cover, and a casing coupled with the housing and the end cover at the opposite end portions. The known arrangement includes a direction change planetary gearing having an input shaft, and a continuously variable ratio change unit including a driver pulley mounted on a driver shaft coaxial with the input shaft. A follower shaft extends in parallel with the driver shaft and has one end portion rotatably supported on the end cover, the opposite end portion extending into the housing, and an intermediate portion therebetween. A follower pulley is disposed on the intermediate portion close to the one end portion of the follower shaft. A V-belt interconnects the driver and follower pulleys. A gear train is drivingly disposed between the continuously variable ratio change unit and a differential. A parking gear is formed integrally with the follower pulley and thus located closer to the one end portion of the follower shaft. A park lock mechanism is so arranged in the vicinity of the parking gear as to lock the parking gear. The park lock mechanism includes a pawl arranged to be engageable with the parking gear, an actuator operatively connected to the pawl, and a control shaft linked with the actuator and rotatably supported on the casing.
In such a prior art park lock arrangement, an assembling operation of the park lock mechanism should be conducted simultaneously with or in advance of a coupling operation of the casing with the end cover. In addition, since the parking gear formed integrally with the follower pulley has a relatively large diameter, it is required to provide a sufficiently large mounting space for the park lock mechanism within a vehicle body.
There is a demand for a park lock arrangement for use in a continuously variable transmission in which an assembling operation of the park lock mechanism can be carried out readily and separately from a coupling operation of the casing with the end cover.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved park lock arrangement for use in a continuously variable transmission, which arrangement serves for an easy assembling operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a space-saving structure of the park lock arrangement for use in the continuously variable transmission, thereby serving to reduce size.